grobba

Thanks Steve, it's possible he didn't want to do it or was just being fair from his point of view, they're a busy / popular shop. I know a mate tried to get his fully self restored E-type sprayed there, but apparently took a year for them to say they were ready for it! The Avant was in for a service this week with them, and pretty much a clean bill of health mechanically, apart from the small oil leak, the sills were looked at but didn't think they were an issue. I think after he'd spent some time working on it and drove it, realised where I was coming from. I'll try get a second opinion, but think I'll probably pursue this as a personal project for the bits I can do. I see some panels can be ordered online pre-sprayed to body colour, how well those would match with original paint and what quality, I don't know though. Cheers..

Hi all, Looking for some adice please on whether to splash some cash on restoration or just let it go. Some background - the car is low milage, circa 56k and almost like new inside, there are signs of rust on the front wings and some rust hole on the rear tailgate. There is also some signs of a previous paint job being done on the bonnet which is now showing up, and stone chipping on front (my fault for using a resurfaced country road as a commuter route). It's just passed it's MOT with a few minor advisories, including a small engine oil leak. Main concern is that sills have been mentioned in previous MOT, however this latest MOT mentioned not able to check due to side skirts, so not quite sure what extent corrosion is if any. On previous various garage visits the techs have said it would be well worth keeping and doing up the bodywork, however talking to a local body repairer recently the guy said it wouldn't be worth it, which was a bit disheartening. As I see it, it would take a couple new wings, replacement tailgate (perhaps from Ebay in similar colour for external respray) and some work on the front and bonnet to get it presentable (although 'if 'the sills are shot then that might be an issue). I've been told this model is/was quite rare? and also myself (and the missus) have become quite attached to it, and would be prepared to spend a bit... if worth it. I could maybe do some myself like the wings, although getting on a bit, not quite so good at squirming around under a car in the cold like I used to do! The car still drives and handles like new with the acceleration and 'entertaining' engine / exhaust tone to go with it. Any thoughts greatly appreciated... cheers 2005 Audi Avant Quattro V6 3.2 FSI S-Line - No Mods. other than new alloys.

I had a window regulator wire break over a year ago, and had to somehow get the window back up on a rainy Sunday night which meant pulling off the door card in the dark! There's some youtube vids out there that helped me at the time. Don't know if there's a difference between 2003 and 2005 A4's, and not sure about access to the window switches, but If I remember correctly, on my car there was a screw at the mid/bottom of the door (careful not to break it, as it was quite tight). Pry off a plastic cover behind the arm rest/handle, there are two screws in there, pry off the long door trim starting from the front of door, there's screws behind that too. after that a bit of perseverence lifting the door card and prying (the videos made it look so easy), and you may well break some of the plastic retaining clips. I had to rustle up a pry bar out of a stiff narrow scraper wrapped in duct tape! But you can get proper plastic trim removal tools. You might need to unclip the door release cable from the handle too, and also the speaker wires. Good luck!

OK - minor update regarding disk temps. after a drive around town and normal braking, checked the disks again - the left one was 80ish DegC the right one 60ish DegC, so bit of a difference after all, although not sure what an acceptable mis-match tolerance would be.. anyways that would indicate perhaps the right caliper getting less hydraulic pressure as the left? is stuck somehow? and/or a blocked hose? I checked the hoses, visually they are OK, although a bit corroded at the unions on the chassis, lifted the car again and checked by hand for binding, that's OK. I've read of some people, when pushing the caliper pistons back in, that they open the bleed nipple instead of pushing the fluid back up through the lines, the theory being not to contaminate the system, I just syphoned off the reservoir with syringe as the level went up, didn't really want to open the system up. I'm hoping there's no crud somehow got into the caliper cylinder, the boots did look OK though. Cheers.

Thanks for reply Trevor, I checked the temps. yesterday after returning from the 'longer journey', they were both about 55 DegC +/- a few degrees, they probably cooled down a bit by the time I'd dug out the temp. gun though. I'll try again directly after some braking. I didn't think they were binding, as the car rolls quite easily. The slider pins (with the 7mm hex socket) were cleaned up with fine wet&dry and a little copper grease applied. I'll have a look at the hoses again, although nothing seemed to 'jump out' whilst changing the disks. I also wonder if the new 'grippier' disks/pads would highlight another issue under braking in the suspension somewhere? After checking hoses, I think next step is to replace the rears anyway (corroded on inside as well), a bit more bedding in and if still persists get checked on a brake tester, will advise any progress. Cheers.

Hi all, quick one to say hello and hopefully get some assistance from any braking gurus out there! Having owned a few Audis over the years - Coupe GT5E, 90 20V Sport (best car ever!), A4 Avant Quattro 2.8, and now a A4 Avant Quattro 3.2 FSI S-Line, I've (had to) become reasonably familiar with tinkering and DIY maintenance, although slightly less so as the technology progresses. My latest endevour was to replace the front disks and pads, which initially appeared to go smoothly enough, the previous disks had worn/corroded 'very' badly on the inside, the outsides were fine. New disks and pads are Pagid, brakes are 1LA front and 1KW rear. Having taken the car for a test drive, and driving about town for a few days the brakes were fine and felt like they were bedding in nicely. However, recently had to go for a longer journey, and at 60-70 mph applying the brakes moderately felt like the car was pulling left, not that the steering was getting pulled, but seemed like the car was 'crabbing' a bit. I've checked the tyres are correctly inflated, and double checked all fasteners are torqued properly, and that there's no contamination on the disks, I was also careful to clean up the contact points between the pads and the carrier, and lubed lightly with copper grease, to ensure a sliding fit. The caliper pistons didn't appear to be stuck when pushing them back in. I'm confused as the car did not behave this way prior to the new disks and have never seen this on any brake jobs done in the past. The rear disks/pads are also due for a change and have some new disks/pads waiting to be fitted (as soon as I find my rewind tool that's stored very safely somewhere). I wonder if they could be causing an issue somehow, but then again the behaviour only started after fitting the new front disks Any suggestions would be welcome, and sorry for the rambling introductory post! Cheers.